


That's not Theo

by WakingNightmares



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Why Stiles didn't trust Theo from the start, add-on, fourth grade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 05:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18004691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WakingNightmares/pseuds/WakingNightmares
Summary: “Because I remember Theo from fourth grade, okay? That’s not Theo.”





	That's not Theo

“Because I remember Theo from fourth grade, okay? That’s not Theo.”

Because fourth grade Theo was quiet, shy, always trailing along behind him and Scott like a lost puppy looking for someone to love him. Because Theo was a loser, with his crappy 90’s haircut, clothes that were always too big, always at least a few years out of style. Because Theo jumped at anything and everything.

Because his smile was always small, soft and almost sad. Like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to smile with everyone else. Because his voice was always a half-step above a whisper. Because he always shrunk into himself, shoulders stooped forward, head down, staring at his feet.

Because he was dyslexic, barely capable of reading.

All of which flew in the face of this imposter. This well-dressed, self-confident kid, with grades on his transfer request that rivaled Lydia’s. This smooth-talking, brightly smiling kid who carried himself like he could take on the world if he had to.

Stiles knew that Scott didn’t want to remember; Scott had a bunch of half-baked nostalgia about a kid who’d been his only friend other than Stiles. A friend who’d been there when things were bad, a willing ear, a sounding board for whatever was going on.

But Stiles knew. People didn’t change; not that dramatically, anyways.  People became more of what they were, fine tuning the details. They didn’t do complete one eighties.

Either this guy wasn't Theo, or it was invasion of the body snatchers. Because there was no way Theo had went from a dorky loser without a backbone to this confident, genius werewolf who conveniently showed up just when they needed him.

Stiles  _ wanted _ it to be Theo; more than anything, he wished it was actually Theo who’d come back to Beacon Hills. He  _ wanted _ Theo to be a werewolf, to join their pack, to be the Three Musketeers again.

Because Theo had been  _ his _ best friend too. He’d always remembered him, always hoped that everything had turned out okay for him. Whenever he’d drive by the skatepark, whenever he’d walk past the elementary school, whenever Scott used his inhaler, he thought about Theo.

Because Theo was the one who was there. Scott and Stiles had been so wrapped up in their own problems -Scott’s parents fighting, Stiles’ mom getting sick -that they’d both leaned on Theo for comfort; it was Theo they’d went to when they needed to talk.

Stiles had told him about the incident with his mom, where she’d accused Stiles of trying to kill her. He’d told him about how his dad had started drinking more, how things at home were literally falling apart; he was trying to learn how to do his own laundry because nobody else was ever home. How tired of eating Ramen noodles because no one was around to make him meals unless he went to the McCalls.

And Theo had always listened. He’d nod, and offer ‘that sucks’, but he’d never given him false hope about it getting better. Never told him it was stupid, never said that his parents were having a rough time. He’d always just.... Been there. Quietly listening.

Which was how he knew that this… this wasn’t Theo. It wasn’t his best friend miraculously returned. And the longer the day went on, the more confident Stiles became.


End file.
